Continual access to wireless communication networks by mass-transit passengers while in transit is currently an emerging interest of bus, e.g. Greyhound, train, e.g. VIA Rail (Canada), airplane, and van-pool operators. Currently, in-vehicle broadband wireless services for passengers with mobile devices in HOVs, e.g., buses, car pool vans, trains, is limited to the radio coverage area of one or a few types of wireless wide area network(s) (WWAN), e.g., 2.5G networks like GPRS/EDGE/CDMA, 3G networks like EVDO/UMTS/HSDA, or 4G networks like WiMAX/LTE. This in-vehicle service suffers from poor service quality due to bandwidth capacity constraints along the route that the HOV travels. Indeed, the bandwidth requirement of HOV's can be a complicated function of the number of passengers and their cumulative bandwidth needs as a function of time and the current landscape of solutions does not systematically address anticipated passenger bandwidth requirements (as functions of scheduled and anticipated communications sessions) nor does it take into account HOV route as associated with Radio access networks.
In addition, the moving communicating HOV has large cumulative bandwidth requirements, e.g. bandwidth “sinks”, wherever it currently is on its route and makes a significant impact on the network as a function of: place, time, and passenger activity. The available bandwidth for an HOV is affected by the radio bandwidth available at the stations serving the HOV, wherever that may be (as a function of time and place). Disregarding these factors can create unexpected problems for both network service providers (NSPs) and passengers. For example, NSPs may be unaware that the HOV—while far away presently—is heading towards their radio access networks (RANs) and will be using much bandwidth upon arrival. This is important because an unexpected network load may affect quality of experience for many of the NSP's other customers using that radio access network. Moreover, passengers in the HOV who have negotiated for network access from the HOV infrastructure during the voyage expect their bandwidth needs to be met and also expect high quality of experience (i.e., helpful services and notifications related to their connectivity).
Most of the existing solutions focus on addressing the radio coverage issue by building a device with multiple wireless wide area network interfaces, e.g., WiMAX+Satellite+GPRS on a train, besides the WiFi interface within the HOV. The existing bandwidth control and quality of service (QoS) solutions are limited to one type of wireless network. Prior solutions fail to deliver fully on wireless network bandwidth control and management for mobile passengers in HOV's. None of the solutions integrate expected passenger network usage via enhanced ticketing interactions, HOV routes, the relationship between route and Radio Access Network towers (e.g., base stations), real-time conditions or real-time bandwidth reservation requests. All of these factors are significant for both passenger quality of experience and to the Network Service Provider whose networks support the radio access portion of passenger communications.